Erdogan says Turkey not to support Sweden’s bid to join NATO
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Sweden has not won Turkey’s support to join NATO ahead of the military alliance’s summit in Vilnius next month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.
“Sweden’s expectations do not mean we will follow them,” Erdogan said during a trip to Azerbaijan, according to Bloomberg and Turkish media.
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in May 2022 prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February but were met with huge rejection from Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey had rejected the two Nordic countries’ bid for NATO membership under the pretext that they support the PKK, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
However, in March, Turkey hindered Sweden from joining NATO but ratified Finland’s bid.
On Wednesday, senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland met in Ankara to discuss Turkey’s concerns over Sweden’s NATO bid.
Officials had been privately expressing optimism going into the meeting, however there was more caution by the day’s end, as the meeting broke out without a clear signal of progress.
Turkey has been dragging its feet on approving Sweden’s bid, citing concerns about Stockholm’s support for Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Sweden must first of all eradicate what this terrorist organization is doing,” the Turkish president said in his remarks.